On Wed, 1 Jan 2003, nrf wrote:
> updated. But I look askance at demands that colleges transform themselves
> into glorified vocational schools. If all they're doing is teaching the
> technology du-jour, and neglecting the building of fundamental thinking
> skills, then I think the heart of what higher education is really all about
> will be lost.
I never said they they should turn into a vocational school. But look at
the CS curriculum in any university right now. It is exactly a vocational
school. They teach you how to write code, how to design an app, and then
you do it. Yes in the meantime they spawn critical thinking. But the
problem I see is this. If they can teach programming, and they can teach
electronic design while still focusing on the learning as you stated, then
why can't they also teach network design. Look at it this way they can
teach anything in the world and still teach the "how to learn" deal you
brought
up. It's by asking students to solve problems.
Yes, there is a mindset for engineers and lots of people are born with
those skills. I'll be the first to admit that my GPA is horrible, but if
you ask me to build you a network or write an application I will guarentee
I can do just as well as any other john doe off the street. GPA is not an
accurate way of showing excatly what I'm capable of. It only shows you
what
some professor thinks of me, or that I can barf up some some obscure fact
from a book thats over 400 pages. It doesn't show how much I can think or
how creative I am. It doesn't show you that I had a research project where
I designed a new protocol for ACL transfers. GPA is not a reflection of
abilities. It is a reflection of memorization ability for an exam. (I
can't even remember a single phrase in spanish but I did three
years of it in High-School and I got an A everytime)
I'm not saying "Don't go get a degree." I am saying that the program is
behind, its playing catch-up and its are getting out lapped every day.
Andrew
---
http://www.andrewsworld.net/
ICQ: 2895251
Cisco Certified Network Associate
"Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live long enough to make all
of them yourself."
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